Prince’s ‘Yellow Cloud’ Guitar Heads to Auction

The opening bid is $30,000.

Prince's yellow guitar. Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions.

A bright yellow electric guitar custom-designed for Prince, the late musician, is coming to auction this summer, offered by Heritage Auctions.

Tagged at $30,000, the guitar will be part of a sale of entertainment and music memorabilia scheduled for June 25 and 26 at the auction house’s Beverly Hills sales room.

The bright yellow custom-made guitar’s elongated upper horn became part of the shape of the glyph that Prince briefly used as his name. He used the guitar live and in the studio for several years, says the house, until it broke during a live performance on French television in 1994; after having it repaired, he used it only for studio recording sessions.

A plate on the rear of the body of Prince's guitar. Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions.

A plate on the rear of the body of Prince’s guitar. Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions.

On the back of the body appears the original label, which reads “Property of PRN MUSIC CORP. PM 16644.” It comes accompanied with a letter from his guitar technician, Zeke Clark, confirming its authenticity.

Related: These Fabulous Photos Capture Prince’s Singular Essence

Also included in the auction and tagged at just $2,000 is a reel-to-reel Prince demo tape, with a track list written by the artist himself, dating from 1976 or 1977, before he had a recording contract. The first two songs, “Just as Long as We’re Together” and “My Love Is Forever,” would appear in different recordings on his debut album, For You, says the house, while the third, an instrumental track titled “Jelly Jam,” would later appear as part of “Just as Long…”

A detail of the neck of Prince's yellow guitar. Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions.

A detail of the neck of Prince’s yellow guitar. Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions.

Yet other items on offer as part of the same auction include a 1984 Recording Industry Association of America award for platinum record sales of Purple Rain and a gold record sales award for 1999, both with opening bids of $1,000.

Prince died suddenly in April at 57 years old. Since then, Calabasas, California auction house Profiles in History his announced that his leather jacket from the 1984 film Purple Rain will come to auction this summer.


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